www.iva.co.uk

We have been in an IVA for 2 years. We did have a Hire Purchase agreement for the car when we went into it and received a letter off the finance company saying that they had been informed we were going into an IVA and were cancelling the agreement. They subsequently agreed to keep the agreement in force as long as we kept up the payments. We have missed one payment due to a bank mix up last November that we haven't made up, although all further payments have been made. We have today had a call from a collector asking to collect the vehicle. We have had the Hire Purchase Agreement for 3 years. Are they legally able to do this? I understood that by law if we have paid a third of the payments they cannot repossess the vehicle without a Court Order. This seems absolutely ridiculous as it only relates to one payment. Can anyone help?

Hi Blossom,

Have you had a look at the small print on the agreement to see what it says?

I'd have a word with the HP company as well to see if you can come to some sort of agreement with them.

Your understanding is correct Blossome - they cannot collect the vehicle without a Court Order, and this is unlikely to be granted with just one missing payment.

Please read the small print or ask the HP company which clause they are referring to that allows them to take the car from you.

Many thanks for your responses. I will check the small print, although the only thing I have been able to see is that if more than one third of the payments have been made they cannot collect the car.